The Uncanny XMen
by Arsonist Phoenix
Summary: contains X2 and X3 spoilers, please read!!!!!
1. Into the Darkness

A/N I'm back! I'm typing, in my pajamas on Sunday May 18, 2003, listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kiss.  
  
EXPINATION (YOU HAVE TO READ THIS) Okay, yes, Jean does have a sister, but not the same girl I'm putting in here. And no, Ms. Marvel was NOT Jean's sister, her real name was Carol Danners.  
  
The Uncanny X-men Into the Darkness  
  
"WELL I'M NOT! AND I NEVER WILL BE! MAYBE IF I DIE, TOO, YOU'LL NOTICE THE GOOD THINGS I'VE DONE!"  
  
Isabella Sulinski stormed out of her house in her black silk pajamas and ran down the road to her high school. She stopped at the practice football field and saw that the guys had left one of their shot puts out. Angry, upset and crying she picked up the 12lb lead ball, and threw it. It soared over the fence, over the game field and into the last row of the home stands, at least a hundred yards from where she stood. The best guy on the team could only throw it 40- some feet. She stood there wide- eyed and open- mouthed. Her dark red hair blew wildly in the wind, and her blue eyes were unblinking. Then she panicked; she'd put a hole in the bleachers. She ran away from the school, as soon as she reached the sidewalk, she slipped on some gravel, but she never touched the ground. She tensed as she braced for impact, but relaxed when the impact never came. She looked around her and noticed that she was floating above the sidewalk. She put both feet back on the ground and ran back home.  
  
'Normal fifteen- year- olds can't float or throw things that far. God help me!' she thought.  
  
She opened the door to her house, and was immediately greeted by her father.  
  
"I'm surprised you came back, you didn't last time," he grumbled.  
  
"Well, I forgot my stuff. And plus, my sister never ran away, but then again, SHE DIED!"  
  
Isabella started up the stairs to her room, but her father grabbed her upper arm.  
  
"Don't you EVER talk about your sister that way!"  
  
Isabella pushed him off of her, sending him through the wall.  
  
"Oh, Daddy! I'm sorry, I didn't mean-Mommy, I'm sorry--"  
  
"Just go up to your room," said her mother, looking through the hole in the wall.  
  
Isabella ran up to her room, and sat on her bed in a little ball, rocking back and forth. A couple hours later, Isabella heard the doorbell ring, and she heard her mother talking.  
  
"Yes, she's here. Please, come in. Isabella, you have company."  
  
Isabella, did her make up and brushed her hair, then ran downstairs, forgetting about her pajamas. She saw two people: an older, bald man in a wheelchair, and a young African- American woman, with white hair.  
  
"Hello, Isabella. I am Professor Charles Xavier, and this is Ororro Monroe. You have been accepted in to Xavier's School for the Gifted," said the man.  
  
"Are you sure you have the right girl?" Isabella asked her southern drawl lowered almost to a whisper.  
  
"You are Isabella Sulinski, are you not?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Then we have the right girl. Our school is in upstate New York. We are set on helping gifted children, like you."  
  
"Gifted?"  
  
"Mutants, like us," she heard a voice whisper inside her head.  
  
"Do you really want to accept me? I have a criminal record, and I can't leave the state yet."  
  
"I've spoken to your judge, and she thinks it will be good for you."  
  
"Would you like to attend?" asked Ororro.  
  
Isabella nodded.  
  
"When are you going?" asked Isabella's mom.  
  
"Whenever is convenient for you," said the Professor.  
  
"Today, if you can, so she's not an inconvenience to you," said her father, holding a bag of ice to his head.  
  
"Very well, Ororro, can you help Isabella pack her things, while I speak with Mr. and Mrs. Sulinski."  
  
The two went up to Isabella's room, and put her clothes and other belongings into bags, and boxes. When Isabella got to her dolls and stuffed animals, she put all of them in one bag, except one, a rag doll in which she held on to.  
  
"So, what can you do?" asked Isabella, when they were nearly done.  
  
"I am a weather witch. I can control the weather."  
  
"Cool."  
  
Ororro smiled.  
  
"And what can you do?"  
  
"I can float, well, fly, and I can push my dad through a wall."  
  
"Oh, is that how that hole in the wall got there? He's a big man."  
  
"Yeah. I've never been able to get my arms all the way around him until recently because he lost a lot of weight."  
  
Ororro and Isabella put all of her things in the trunk of the car, and Ororro, Professor Xavier, and Isabella got in, and they drove from Raleigh, North Carolina, to the school. A little while after they left Raleigh, Isabella fell asleep in the back seat. When they reached the school, Professor Xavier got out and went in ahead and Ororro woke up Isabella.  
  
"I'm sorry, Miss Monroe. I'm not used to having the entire backseat to myself."  
  
Ororro smiled.  
  
"Call me Storm."  
  
Isabella smiled back, and got out of the car, with no shoes on, still in her pajamas. They unloaded all of her things and took them up to the girls' room, and settled her in, and she got dressed in a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt. Isabella looked at her watch it was seven o'clock.  
  
"I am sorry, but I must leave you here. Feel free to roam around as you please."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Isabella walked downstairs and into the TV/ Game room, and she saw them. Bobby was her best friend since she was a little girl, and John, a boy she'd met in NYC, when she'd run away from home. John didn't recognize her at first, but Bobby did. He half ran over to her and they hugged.  
  
"Bella! What are you doing here?" he asked.  
  
"I've come here to go to school Suga," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
"You're a mutant, too? What can you do?"  
  
Isabella, hugged him a little tighter, and floated a few inches in the air, then back down.  
  
"And I can throw my dad through a wall."  
  
Bobby laughed.  
  
"So, when did this happen?"  
  
"This morning."  
  
"Oh."  
  
John came up and kissed Isabella. Bobby was surprised she didn't throw him out the window, mutation, or no mutation.  
  
"I've missed you, Suga," she said.  
  
"And I, you."  
  
"What's your name?" asked the man wearing sunglasses, sitting on the sofa.  
  
"Isabella. And yours?"  
  
"Scott Summers, but you can call me Cyclops."  
  
Isabella grinned.  
  
"I could go places with that."  
  
"Been there, done that. Logan's all ready done all those jokes."  
  
"Damn! I wanted to be the only smart ass here."  
  
They laughed, and a girl came up from behind Bobby.  
  
"Bella, this is Rogue, Rogue, this is Bella."  
  
"Hi," they said at the same time.  
  
"Scott," said a woman, from behind Isabella.  
  
Scott got up and walked to her, as Isabella turned to see whom it was, but she couldn't see the woman's face, because Scott was in the way.  
  
"Who's that?" asked Isabella.  
  
"Oh, that's Dr. Jean Grey, she works here, too," said Rogue.  
  
Isabella fell to floor, in a dead faint. 


	2. Coming Back from the Dead

The Uncanny X-Men Coming Back from the Dead  
  
John lifted Isabella off the floor, and onto the sofa, and Scott ran over.  
  
"What happened?" demanded Scott.  
  
"I just told her who Dr. Grey was and she fainted," said Rogue.  
  
Jean carefully inched over, saw Isabella's face, put her hand to her mouth, and gasped.  
  
"Jean, can you--" he saw her face. "Jean?"  
  
Jean turned around and ran. Bobby gently slapped her face, and Isabella slowly opened her eyes.  
  
"What-- what happened?" asked Isabella.  
  
"You fainted," answered John.  
  
"Me? Faint? Why-it-it can't be," she whispered.  
  
"What can't be?" asked Scott.  
  
"Nothing, my imagination got away with me."  
  
"That doesn't cause you to faint."  
  
"I thought someone was someone else. It's nothing."  
  
"All right, but just in case, go get something to eat."  
  
"Okay."  
  
John took Isabella to the kitchen, and they ate together, then John walked her to her room, where Rogue, Jubilee, and Kitty were waiting.  
  
"Maybe I could give you the tour tomorrow?" he suggested.  
  
"I'd like that. Good night, John."  
  
They kissed, and she went into the room. The three were sitting on her bed.  
  
"I'm Jubilation Lee," said the Chinese- American girl.  
  
"And I'm Kitty Pride," said a girl with brown hair.  
  
"I'm Isabella."  
  
"Cool. So, we've heard all the rumors about you, so what's true and what's not?" said Jubilee.  
  
"Jubi!" said Rogue.  
  
Isabella laughed.  
  
"It's all right, well, what have you heard?" said Isabella.  
  
"That you used to date Bobby Drake," said Jubilee.  
  
"Not true, we've been friends for a long time, and we'll never be more than that."  
  
"That you totally spent time in the slammer," said Kitty, dramatically.  
  
"True, in NYC, it was only a couple hours, before they took my back to North Carolina. We spent the summer in Boston, and the school year in North Carolina."  
  
They laughed.  
  
"That you've slept with John," said Jubilee.  
  
"I've never had sex with him, but we fell asleep on a friend's sofa together before."  
  
"That you've come here to spy for Magneto."  
  
"Who? I guess that's not true, unless I'm bugged or something."  
  
"Oh, okay, umm.. that you threw you dad through a wall."  
  
"Not true." The looked disappointed. "I pushed him through a wall, I didn't throw him, Suga."  
  
They laughed. They went to sleep that night, talking and gossiping about everyone in school. Isabella didn't see Dr. Grey during the next two weeks; Scott said she wasn't feeling well.  
  
"I wonder why she got sick all of a sudden," said Isabella.  
  
"I dunno, maybe she's pregnant," said John.  
  
"Not with being part of the X-Men."  
  
Rogue ran over and hugged a man who looked like he belonged in a forest. Bobby walked up behind her, jealous.  
  
"We'd better leave them to it," said Isabella, leading John into the TV room, and they watched TV. Soon, the man came in the room and sat at the other end of the sofa. He stared at them. Isabella politely smiled at him.  
  
"I'm Isabella, and this is John."  
  
He looked from one to the other, his stoical expression never changing.  
  
"I'm Logan."  
  
"Oh! So, you're the guy who beat me to the Cyclops material!"  
  
He looked at her, his eyebrows raised.  
  
"Material?"  
  
"About having one eye."  
  
"You were gonna bust on him?"  
  
"Yeah, I wouldn't have resisted if you hadn't beaten me to it."  
  
He laughed, and Isabella snuggled closer to John. Around ten, Isabella and John went to their dorms.  
  
"So, I saw you met Logan," said Rogue, as they lay in their beds, facing each other.  
  
"Yeah, he was serious until I mentioned joking around with Scott about the whole Cyclops thing," said Isabella, yawning.  
  
"Yeah, he thinks it's funny. They don't get along too well," said Rogue, falling asleep.  
  
"It's a territorial thing. I guess it goes with having a penis," said Isabella, also falling asleep.  
  
Kitty and Jubilee laughed, sleepily. Around two AM, Isabella woke to bright lights in the bedroom.  
  
"Jubilee-oh God! Wake up!" she screamed, and ran out of the room, waking up the younger kids in the room to their right, then she headed to the room to their left, but men with big guns were almost to that room, so they had to leave, or they would have gotten them all.  
  
John and Bobby joined Rogue and Isabella in the hall.  
  
"Where's Logan?" asked Rogue.  
  
They found him, alone facing at least a dozen with a fat man in front of him. Bobby put a wall of ice between them. Logan turned around.  
  
"Go! I'll be fine!" he said.  
  
"But we won't!" cried Rogue.  
  
He ran into the secret panel with them, and closed it just as they heard the wall of ice shatter. They made their way into the garage, and they clambered into Scott's car, and they were off down the road.  
  
"Jean and Storm are in Boston, we'll go there," said Logan.  
  
"My parents live in Boston," said Bobby.  
  
"Good."  
  
Isabella still hadn't noticed the old rag doll in her hand, but Bobby did.  
  
"Bella? What's that?"  
  
She opened her hand, and looked at the doll. It was an old rag doll wearing a once- white dress, with red yarn for hair, and brown buttons for eyes.  
  
"It was my sister's. That's why I fainted when you told me Dr. Grey's name. The doll's name is Jean Grey. My mother named it Jean Grey, because my sister had named it Jean, and we'd have to specify which one we wanted. Jean, my sister, loved the Grey Poupon commercials, and the doll's dress was always gray after one week with my sister, so my mom named the doll Jean Grey."  
  
"Oh, well that explains a lot," said Bobby, quietly.  
  
"What happened to your sister?" asked Logan.  
  
"She died. They lost her body at the hospital; they said she must have gotten mixed up in the shipment to the local med school. I didn't want to go looking for it, out of fear that it might be too late."  
  
"I'm sorry," said Rogue.  
  
"It's all right."  
  
Isabella looked around at all of them. She was in boxer shorts and a black tank top, Rogue was in a black nightdress, Logan was still fully dressed, and Bobby and John were in their boxers and t-shirts. Isabella smiled, and put her head on John's shoulder, until they reached Boston. They four teenagers went upstairs to get dressed. Rogue was the only one who didn't put on Bobby's clothes. Isabella was the first one back downstairs. She bent over, looking on the bottom shelves of the refrigerator, as Logan took a drink of beer.  
  
"Y'know, Suga, beer ain't exactly the breakfast o' champions. I wonder where the Drake's are," said Isabella, hidden behind the island and the refrigerator door.  
  
"Right here," said Logan.  
  
Isabella stood up and closed the door.  
  
"Mr. Drake! Mrs. Drake! Ronnie!"  
  
"Isabella, what are you doing here?" asked Mrs. Drake.  
  
"Bobby's up-never mind, here he is."  
  
"I need to tell you something."  
  
They all walked in to the living room and sat down, to hear Bobby's news. He told, and showed, them his secret.  
  
"This is all my fault," said Mrs. Drake.  
  
"Actually, they say that men carry the mutant gene, so it's his fault," said John, nodding at Mr. Drake.  
  
Isabella tried not to laugh, and Mr. Drake looked at her.  
  
"I'm sorry, Mr. Drake," she looked at John. "Actually, Suga, men can't carry genes. They either are or aren't. Women are the carriers. For example: a non- hemophiliac man can father a hemophiliac son, but ONLY if the mother was a carrier. Women are carriers, not men," said Isabella, knowingly.  
  
"Well, someone listened in Bio," said Bobby.  
  
"I had to have a good grade to get into Chemistry." They laughed, as Ronnie stormed out of the room, glaring at Isabella. She stood and went after him. "Ronnie-come back!"  
  
"Stay away you freak!" he yelled at her.  
  
She stopped and looked back at Bobby, Rogue, Logan, and John, who had all skipped a heartbeat. She closed her eyes, and continued up the stairs like a mother who's kid was in a lot of trouble.  
  
"Ronnie, c'mon and open the door, Suga," she said.  
  
"I can't believe you'd do this to me!"  
  
"What did I do?"  
  
"You became a freak! After all we've been through!"  
  
She leaned against his door, and slid down to the floor, so her knees were against her chest.  
  
"Ronnie, I didn't do it on purpose, it just happened, and I can't not be a mutant, it's not possible. I think God's just makin' up for people like my little sister who are devolved."  
  
There was silence for a minute.  
  
"Leave me alone freak!" he shouted.  
  
Isabella put her head in her hands and began to cry.  
  
"I thought you loved me more than that, Mon petit frère."  
  
She walked slowly down the stairs.  
  
"What happened?" asked Bobby.  
  
"Well, he officially hates us. I think he feels left out, or scared, I don't know which."  
  
"Left out? I think I need to have a talk with him. I can't touch anyone, ever!" said Rogue.  
  
"I know that, but he doesn't understand. I even called him 'mon petit frère' and that always works, I'm losing my touch."  
  
"What does that mean?" asked John.  
  
" 'My little brother.' It's French."  
  
"Oh. Why do you call him that?"  
  
"The three of us were so close we might as well have been siblings."  
  
Logan ran back into the house. There were flashing lights in the yard.  
  
"Come out of the house immediately!" John, Bobby, Rogue, Isabella and Logan walked out of the house, Logan's claws out. "Drop the knives, sir. I repeat, drop the knives!"  
  
Logan looked at him.  
  
"I can't."  
  
The officer to their right shot Logan in the head, and Rogue and Isabella screamed, trying not to cry. Bobby, Rogue, and Isabella slowly lowered to the ground.  
  
"You heard of those dangerous kinds of mutants?" asked John.  
  
"John NO!" cried Isabella.  
  
"I'm the worst one."  
  
He threw a mass of fire at the officers on either side of them, and more at two of the police cars. Rogue took off her glove, and took some of John's energy, knocking him to the ground. The X-Men Jet landed in the cul- de- sac. Logan stood up, and began walking to the jet, the four of them behind him, Isabella pissed off at John. The officer who shot Logan looked at him over the hedge, and fainted.  
  
"C'mon Isabella, they would have killed us!" he said.  
  
"Not if you had done what you were supposed to and NOT pose a threat!  
  
"I did it for us!"  
  
"Trying to kill people is not something you do 'for us!' "  
  
"C'mon, Isabella, don't do this!" he begged.  
  
Isabella began to walk up the ramp into the jet.  
  
"Now, we can't get married, because you're wanted for attempted murder! And weren't you saying just last week how you would do everything you could so we could get married, well, THIS ISN'T ONE OF THOSE THINGS!"  
  
She got on the jet. They got in, and they attempted to put on their safety belts, and they all succeeded, except for Rogue, who was still fumbling with hers when they took off. She eventually got it to a point where she thought it was on, but it wasn't.  
  
"Who's he?" asked Logan, pointing to a blue man.  
  
"I'm Kurt Wagner, but in the Munich circus, I was known as the Nightcrawler!"  
  
"Fantastic," said Logan, sarcastically.  
  
Isabella smiled at him, as the back of John's neck got red again.  
  
"I'm Isabella, that's John, that's Bobby, that's Rogue, and that's Logan."  
  
"Hello."  
  
"There are two bogey's on the screen," Storm said.  
  
She did a barrel roll.  
  
"Please don't do that again," said John.  
  
"I agree," said Logan.  
  
"Don't listen to them! That was awesome!" said Isabella, enthusiastically.  
  
She looked outside, and saw at least ten tornadoes around them.  
  
"One down," said Jean.  
  
The other one was destroyed, but not before it had released two missiles. Jean managed to destroy one, but the other was too hard for her. She finally managed to destroy it, but it was right behind the jet, blowing the tail off. Rogue flew out.  
  
"Rogue!" shouted Bobby.  
  
Kurt popped out of the jet, and popped back in with Rogue. Isabella tried to unbuckle her seatbelt.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked John, as she flew out the back of the jet, and to the front where she tried to stop the jet from crashing.  
  
Jean was also trying to stop the jet. All of a sudden, she noticed the back closing up, and the jet stopped. She turned around and saw a blue woman, and an older man dressed in red. He put the jet down, and they all got out, but Isabella stayed in mid-air. She'd gotten a good look at Dr. Jean Grey, and took the doll out of her pocket.  
  
"Come on down, Isabella," said Storm.  
  
"No, not until SHE is gone!" growled Isabella, saying the word 'she' with complete and utter disdain.  
  
"Bella, come down," cooed Jean.  
  
Isabella ignored her and flew up to the top of the nearest tree, crying. Kurt popped up next to her.  
  
"Vat is vong?" he asked, softly.  
  
"Jean was my sister, but I thought she was dead."  
  
"Bella, come down so we can talk," Jean called up to her.  
  
Isabella dropped the doll down to her, and Jean caught it.  
  
"There! I want nothing to do with you!"  
  
The blue woman moved under the tree, and she heard her say, "Let me try," to Jean. She transformed into a beautiful blonde woman. "Carol, Carol Danners, come down here."  
  
Isabella flew down, Kurt following her.  
  
"Misty?"  
  
She turned back to the blue woman, who nodded. They hugged.  
  
"So, that's your sister?" she asked, looking at Jean.  
  
"Yeah, so, how have you been? I haven't seen you since. since I was arrested!"  
  
The two laughed.  
  
"Isabella Maria Anastasia Gwenyth Olga Carmen Moran Sulinski! You were arrested?" demanded Jean.  
  
"You have five middle names?" asked Bobby.  
  
"Six, you miscounted." Mystique laughed. "Jean has just as many. Alexandra Jean Tatiana Elizabeth Helga Celeste Lynn Sulinski.  
  
"You didn't answer my question. You were arrested?" demanded Jean, again.  
  
"You remember that, John?" sighed Isabella.  
  
John laughed.  
  
"Yeah, who'd have thought? You! Arrested for indecent exposure!"  
  
Jean, Bobby, Storm, Rogue, and Logan all stared, open- mouthed.  
  
"We were drunk," explained Isabella.  
  
"Can we talk, now?" asked Magneto, impatiently.  
  
Mystique, Jean, Logan, Storm and Magneto all walked away, leaving the rest of them to pitch tents. Bobby, Rogue, and Kurt walked up to John and Isabella, who were still laughing.  
  
"Indecent exposure?" asked Bobby.  
  
"We were driving around, drunk, late one night, and there were there two double F prostitutes, and Misty and I flashed them to prove we were B&T, unlike them."  
  
"Double F? B&T?" asked Rogue.  
  
"Fat and Flat, and Big and Thin."  
  
"Oh"  
  
Isabella smiled, and they finished up the tents, and went to sleep. The next morning, they all got on the jet, and took off.  
  
"So, you got arrested, what else did you do?" asked Jean.  
  
"Well, I was Goth for a while, binging every weekend. From Friday afternoon to Sunday night, piss drunk. Then, I ran away. I ended up in NYC, that's where I met Tony."  
  
Mystique laughed.  
  
"Ah, how I miss Tony," she said, not meaning a word of it.  
  
"He got me a job, a new name, Carol Danners, fake Ids, and he introduced me to Misty, and I lived with her."  
  
"What was you job? You never told me," lied John, turning on a portable radio.  
  
"I. danced."  
  
"Danced?" asked Jean. "Care to clarify?"  
  
"Misty and I were. er. we were strippers."  
  
Bobby turned around in his chair.  
  
"WHAT?!?!"  
  
The song "Bring Me to Life" came on, and Isabella began to sing the song.  
  
"How-how-how?" stuttered Jean.  
  
Isabella didn't answer until the song was over.  
  
"Tony," said Isabella, simply.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I needed a job."  
  
"Why'd you leave home?"  
  
"Do you know what it's like to hear 'You should be more like Jean.' 'Jean always had straight A's.' 'Jean's room was always clean.' Jean! Jean! Jean"  
  
Jean changed the subject.  
  
"Well, you ran away, became a stripper, what else did you do?"  
  
"Then, I got arrested."  
  
"For indecent exposure."  
  
"For indecent exposure, possession of alcohol, and possession of fake I.D.s. And that was just me."  
  
"You were charged with all that?" inquired Jean, shocked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And they didn't lock you away!"  
  
Isabella shot Jean a death glare.  
  
"NO! Because I didn't buy the alcohol or I.D.s, Tony did. I was sentenced to 320 hours of community service."  
  
"And did you complete your time?"  
  
Isabella rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yes. Sixteen hours a day for ten weekends. Two and a half months of pushing around old people, reading and playing with kids, and cleaning up the side of the road, hurling every time I saw roadkill."  
  
"Is that all?"  
  
"Well, fights are imminent at our house. Bobby helped me through the beginning, but then he left, then about two weeks ago, it all came out. We were eating breakfast, and I was kinda out of it. I'd spent all night being Suicide Prevention Hotline for one of my friends, and they'd asked me what I was doing all night on the phone. I said talking to a friend. And they brought up that I had no real friends and they said-never mind, I don't want to talk about it."  
  
Isabella glanced quickly at Bobby.  
  
"C'mon, Bella, you've told us this much," said Bobby.  
  
"But someone here all ready knew about it. No one knows about this, though."  
  
"Bella, I have ways of finding out," said Jean.  
  
"It's not you-oh all right. They said that everyone felt bad for me because you were dead, and Bobby was only my friend because we'd known each other for so long, and he felt bad, because I had no friends, and he went off to school, because that was the only way he could get the hell away from me without hurting my feelings."  
  
Isabella was in tears now, curled up in a ball in her seat. Jean hugged her.  
  
"Bella, I couldn't have stayed."  
  
"I wouldn't've told any one! I didn't tell anyone."  
  
Jean looked at her.  
  
"Told what?"  
  
"That you could move things. I came in to talk to you after that fight you had with Mom and Dad, and I saw everything about two feet off the floor. I left the room, and I never told anyone."  
  
Jean hugged her again.  
  
"You need to rest, you're a wreck."  
  
Isabella looked at her.  
  
"Thanks, Jeannie," she said, sarcastically.  
  
She relaxed and fell asleep. A while later, she stirred, she thrashed in her seat, held down by the safety belt, she whimpered, then screamed. Logan, Bobby, John, Rouge and Jean rushed to her side.  
  
"Don't wake her up!" Jean shouted over Isabella's screams.  
  
"Why? She's screaming!" said Logan.  
  
Isabella screamed louder and clutched her head in pain.  
  
"Do something!" instructed Storm.  
  
"She's in pain!" shouted John.  
  
"Don't wake her up!" repeated Jean.  
  
"Why the hell not?" asked Logan.  
  
"Because she'll die!" Everyone, except Isabella, got quiet. "She and I have this unique ability to see the past, present and future in our dreams. Bella's were always more vivid and accurate than mine."  
  
Isabella opened her eyes and gasped for air.  
  
"Jean, stay away from the water. For God's sake stay away from the God damn water!" Isabella shouted.  
  
Jean hugged her sister.  
  
"Again? I thought I'd escaped that destiny."  
  
Isabella looked at her sister, and shied away from her.  
  
"No, it's too late. It has begun. You've had them, too. I saw the fire in your eyes when you tried to stop the missiles. It has begun. I got you back for one day. ONE DAMN DAY! And it starts!" Jean hugged Isabella, and Isabella closed her eyes and said, in an unearthly voice, " As is the beginning, so as its end. Birth, death, and rebirth of the beloved sister, who's soul will soon be smothered by the ashes of the Phoenix." Isabella opened her eyes. She hugged Jean tightly, and whispered, "You will destroy us all." 


	3. The Perfect Country Song

The Uncanny X-Men The Perfect Country Song  
  
They landed on a lake of ice. Logan and Isabella suited up.  
  
"You're not going," said Jean.  
  
"Yes I am," said Isabella.  
  
"No you're not. It's too dangerous.  
  
"I'm going with you, and you can't stop me."  
  
"Yes I can."  
  
"Try, and you'll go through the side of the jet."  
  
"Bella, you're not going."  
  
"Jean! I'm going because I would like to spent as much time with you as I can before it takes over you, and it's too late!"  
  
Isabella put on the belt and boots. Jean looked at her sadly, as Isabella put her hair up, and hugged Jean.  
  
"Bella-I just don't want anything to happen to you."  
  
"I can take care of myself. I love you."  
  
They pulled apart from one another.  
  
"I hate to break up the love, but we must go," said Storm.  
  
Isabella walked behind Jean, but went Jean got outside, she closed the hatch, Isabella still inside. Isabella was on her knees, and she hit the floor, leaving two dents.  
  
"Damnit Jean!"  
  
"I heard that!"  
  
Isabella looked behind her, where the voice had come from. She picked her clothes up off the floor, and sat up in the pilot's seat, and changed quickly as she spoke to Jean.  
  
"Good. I said I was gonna go with you."  
  
"And I said no."  
  
"All right, DAD."  
  
"Bella."  
  
"Yes you are! You're acting just like him!" said Isabella, harshly.  
  
"Stop that."  
  
"I'll never see you again."  
  
"Yes you will."  
  
"Jean, I had another dream, after the water one. I'd had it before, with only one difference. It was your funeral, and I see the Grim Reaper under a nearby tree, and the first time I had it, you were the Grim Reaper, but this time, it was that bird."  
  
"The Fire bird?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Bella--"  
  
"I don't want to lose you again, Jean."  
  
Jean sighed.  
  
"I don't want to lose you, again, either. Bella, we're in, I have to go. I'll talk to you when I can. Bye."  
  
There was a click. Isabella put her head in her hands, curled up in the pilot's seat. John came up and put his arms around her, crouching next to the seat. She put her head on his shoulder, and fell to her knees in front of him. He kissed her hair.  
  
"I love you," he whispered.  
  
"I love you too," she said, looking at him.  
  
They looked into each other's eyes, forehead-to-forehead, nose-to-nose. He put his left hand on her face, the tips of his fingers in her dark red hair. They sat there for a long while until Bobby spoke.  
  
"I got it!"  
  
They all looked at him."  
  
"Got what?" asked Isabella.  
  
"You remember when we were kids, and you had this thing for Captain Marvel? You thought he was the coolest."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Isabella had no idea where this conversation was going, or where Bobby's mind had all ready gone.  
  
"I thought of a nickname for you."  
  
"Oh," she said, it all making sense."  
  
"Ms. Marvel." (A/N: hence MY pen name lol)  
  
Isabella laughed.  
  
"I like it. Kinda corny, but I like it."  
  
"Thanks," said Bobby, sarcastically.  
  
They laughed. John kissed the base of Isabella neck, and moved upward. They kissed.  
  
"C'mon, there's something I wanna show you. Close your eyes," John said, helping her up.  
  
He led her into the storage compartment, right above where the landing gear was.  
  
"Where are we going?" she asked.  
  
"Sit down."  
  
She sat down.  
  
"Can I open my eyes yet?"  
  
"If you want." She opened her eyes, and looked around, John was sitting across from her. "When I first came to Xavier's, right after you got arrested, I found the jet, and I climbed up in here when I needed to think."  
  
He kissed her, and she smiled. She pushed him softly onto his back, as she crawled slowly over to him. John grinned. When they were eye to eye, he kissed her quickly, then flipped her over, and rolled on top of her. She laughed. He kissed her hard, but this time it was longer, when they did break away, he looked at her.  
  
"Will you forgive me for today?"  
  
"I don't know yet."  
  
"Well, I do want to marry you. I said it before, and I meant it."  
  
"I know, and I want to marry you, too, but I don't see how. Attempted murder doesn't go over well."  
  
He stood up.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
He walked back to where Bobby and Rogue were. Isabella rolled her eyes and followed him. She sat in the pilots seat for a while, and looked outside.  
  
"I'm going," said John, finally.  
  
"They told us to wait here," said Bobby.  
  
"Do you always do what you're told?"  
  
John left. No one moved for at least ten minutes, and then Isabella stood up and ran out of the jet after him. After five minutes of running, she saw him.  
  
"J-" but that was as far as she got.  
  
Suddenly, there was this awful noise that made them both cover their ears. Isabella fell to the ground, trying not to scream. She tried to get to John, but the pain was too much for her, so she crawled on her bare elbows in the snow toward him, but she didn't make it. He held his hand out to her, and she reached for it, but they were too far apart. They were missing each other's hands by inches. They lay there, in the snow, feeling as though their heads would explode. As abruptly as it had begun, it ceased. Isabella rolled on her back, and John stood and walked over to her. He sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"Where are you going?" she asked him.  
  
There was a small, isolated shrub next to them, which John burst into flames. (Not John, the shrub, just in case you're anything like me and don't get things immediately)  
  
"I don't know. I was getting Cabin Fever. I think I might take Magneto up on his offer."  
  
Isabella stood up and faced him.  
  
"Why? Are trying to break up with me?"  
  
John stood up, and took both of her hands in his.  
  
"No, never! I was hoping, well, praying, that you'd come with me."  
  
Isabella pulled her hands away.  
  
"John-I can't. I'll wait for you, but for how long? I don't know."  
  
"Isabella-"  
  
She kissed him.  
  
"Just come back to me in one piece, okay?"  
  
He pulled her close to him.  
  
"Okay," he whispered into her hair.  
  
They kissed.  
  
"Goodbye," she said, walking away.  
  
She got back to the jet, and sat down.  
  
"Bella-" began Bobby, but Rogue stopped him.  
  
Isabella sat there for a long time, until all the others came running back in the jet, in a panic. Jean was limping; Isabella helped all the smaller kids into their seat, as Storm tried to start the jet.  
  
"C'mon, Storm," said Logan.  
  
"I'm trying," she replied.  
  
Isabella went to go outside to lift the jet off the ground until it could start, but she couldn't get the hatch open. She looked around.  
  
"Jean!" she screamed.  
  
Scott looked at Kurt.  
  
"Go get her!"  
  
Kurt closed his eyes.  
  
"She von't let me."  
  
Isabella screamed bloody murder, and hit the side of the jet. Logan and Scott grabbed her to keep her from demolishing the jet, while they were in flight.  
  
"I could have done it! I could have gotten us up! No, it will eat you up!" she shrieked, as though Jean were right in front of her. Scott hugged her, and they cried together, on the floor of the jet. "And I'd just gotten you back," she whispered. 


	4. Secret Telling and Help with Coping

The Uncanny X-Men Secret Telling and Help With Coping  
  
When they got back to school, Isabella refused to talk to anyone, which worried Bobby to no end.  
  
"This is what happened last time, she locked herself away, then became Goth, then she ran away, then, well. you know the story," Bobby told Rogue.  
  
"Don't worry, Bobby, she'll be fine, we'll help her."  
  
"That's if she lets us."  
  
Logan had begun to teach Math, Gym and lunch, and sometimes he'd hover around the Home Ec. room to steal cookies and cakes. Kurt had come to the school, and was bent on a mission. His mission: to "save" at least one person at Xavier's, he started an after- school Bible club, that Isabella went to, and occasionally, helped with. Isabella, Rogue, Kitty, and Jubilee all took the same two electives, Home Ec. and Gym. One night, two and a half weeks after, what was called 'The Incident at Alkali Lake,' Isabella flew out of the girl's bedroom window in the middle of the night, and flew as far away from the dorms as possible, sat on the roof and cried like a wounded animal. A rock soared at her, scaring her and she fell off the roof, catching herself, before she hit the ground. She flew to the other side of that part of the building to where the rock had come from. It was the newest addition to Xavier's.  
  
"Hey! What's the big idea?" she demanded, breaking her silence.  
  
He grinned.  
  
"I's wuz told dat you don' wanna talk," he said.  
  
"I just haven't been in the mood."  
  
"How come, chere?"  
  
"My sister died. I'm Isabella."  
  
"I'm Remy LeBeau."  
  
He grinned.  
  
"So, why'd you throw a rock at me, Suga?"  
  
"So I cou' meet choo."  
  
She raised an eyebrow.  
  
"To meet me?"  
  
"Dat an' to shut choo up."  
  
"Thanks a lot," she said sarcastically.  
  
She gave him a weak smile.  
  
"Is dat all you can give Remy?" he asked.  
  
"For now."  
  
"Well, dat ain't good enough."  
  
"Well, you'll just have to wait, Suga."  
  
"Bobby tells me you twoze been friends for a long time."  
  
"Yeah, since we were little."  
  
They heard Kitty scream. Isabella picked up Remy as she flew into the air, and through the boy's bedroom window. They saw Kitty run out of the bathroom, followed by Peter (Piotr) Nikolaievitch Rasputin (aka Colossus). Isabella ran after Kitty.  
  
"Kitty, what happened?" asked Isabella.  
  
Logan, Scott, Storm, and Dr. McCoy (the new doctor) came running down the hall.  
  
"I- I- I fell out of bed, and I fell through the floor and landed in the boys' bathroom and Peter was er-like using the bathroom." Logan had to leave so he could laugh, and Isabella tried not to laugh as she hugged Kitty. Scott and Storm were surprised at Isabella. Kitty looked at Isabella. "Did you like just ask me what happened?" she asked.  
  
Isabella nodded.  
  
"Remy threw a rock at me, and knocked me off the roof."  
  
"She's gonna be all right! She's not gonna become a stripper again!" yelled Bobby, happily.  
  
Then he realized what he'd done. Isabella walked over to him, slapped him across the face, and ran up to her room. Remy followed her up.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey, chere. Tell Remy what da problem is," he cooed.  
  
"Bobby. He just announced what I did when I ran away from home."  
  
She sat on her bed, and he kneeled in front of her.  
  
"It be all right."  
  
He wiped the tears off her face.  
  
"Thank you, Remy. Why are you hanging around with me?"  
  
"I's takin' a chance wich choo. I's a gamblin' man."  
  
"All right then, Gambit."  
  
"Gambit? Hmmm. I like it. What's yours?"  
  
"Ms. Marvel."  
  
He grinned.  
  
"Are you marvelous at somethin'?"  
  
"Not really, Bobby named me that."  
  
"Dat so?"  
  
She laughed.  
  
"Yeah, dat's so," she said mocking him.  
  
He began to tickle her, and she screamed with laughter, he stood up and she fell back onto her bed, kicking and screaming. Everyone ran in, Logan rolled his eyes.  
  
"All right, everyone needs to go back to bed," said Scott.  
  
"C'mon Cajun, stop flirtin'," said Logan.  
  
"I ain't flirtin.' I's ticklin.'"  
  
Everyone went back into their own rooms, and went back to sleep. Isabella stopped talking again, but only to Bobby, she spoke to everyone else, just not him. She smiled and laughed again, but Remy could see that the happiness did not reach her eyes, or her heart.  
  
"C'mon Bella, don't do this to me," begged Bobby.  
  
Isabella and Rogue looked at one another, and both grinned.  
  
"Did you hear that, Rogue? It sounded like a big- mouthed bug," said Isabella.  
  
"Oh c'mon, cheres, dis is torture for da poor man," said Remy.  
  
"He should have thought about this before he announced my life story."  
  
They sat down in Literature. Bobby, stood, next to Isabella, and got down on both knees.  
  
"Isabella Maria Anastasia Gwenyth Olga Carmen Moran Sulinski, will you-" began Bobby.  
  
"No, Robert O'Riley Drake, I will not marry you."  
  
Bobby was taken aback.  
  
"I wasn't going to ask you to marry me."  
  
"I know I just wanted to embarrass you."  
  
The girls laughed.  
  
"I sugges' you sit down 'fore deese girl ta' an' featha' you in a public square," said Remy.  
  
Bobby sat down next to Rogue.  
  
"Lit class," sighed Rogue.  
  
"It's not that bad, Scott's picked out some pretty cool things to read," said Isabella.  
  
Scott walked in with a notebook. He opened it and searched through it until he found what he was looking at.  
  
"I found this notebook of poems, and I read through them, and I found this one, that reached out to me in particular. All of them scream 'I need help!' but this one is louder.  
  
"It creeps over me, Then its cousin. They drag me down. Further. Deeper. They show me, Things I want, Then take them away. Over, And over, And over. They taunt me Again And again They never leave. Not ever. I hate them, But they love me, So much so, that they're always with me. Depression hovers Suicide nags They stay with me wherever I go They never leave. Not ever. I hate them."  
  
"Son of a bitch!" said Isabella.  
  
"Excuse me?" asked Scott.  
  
"Not you, I use it as an expression, sorry, but that's my poem, and I don't need help. I thought I threw it away!"  
  
Scott handed her the notebook.  
  
"How many are yours?"  
  
She looked through all of them.  
  
"Sorry, Romeo, they're all mine. Jean was never a great writer. She must have taken all my poems and collected them. I wrote to keep myself sane."  
  
"You're depressing."  
  
"Thanks a lot," she said sarcastically.  
  
"I found all these, and the vast majority are like this."  
  
"Not the VAST majority. I wasn't suicidal ALL the time. And if you don't like this, I don't suggest reading my version of 'Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,' it's mad depressing."  
  
"How surprising!"  
  
"Well, well, well, look who came out of his shell to become Mr. Sarcastic- pants! All my poems were either thrown away or lost; well I still have a few. Jean didn't write, she tried a few times but failed miserably."  
  
"Jean read to learn about the world, you read to escape it," said Professor Xavier, rolling in.  
  
Isabella turned around to face him.  
  
"Pretty much." She handed the notebook to Scott. "Those are all mine."  
  
"That's a thick notebook, hate life much?" asked Bobby.  
  
She glared at him, and sat back down. After that class, they went to Home Ec., in the kitchen.  
  
"Now, tell me again, why am I taking this class? I can all ready cook," whined Isabella.  
  
"Just look at it this way: it's another A for you," said Jubilee.  
  
Isabella sighed as they sat down.  
  
"What is that smell?" whispered Kitty.  
  
"I don't know, but Dr. McCoy needs to take cooking lessons from Isabella," said Jubilee.  
  
Dr. McCoy ran in, and turned off the stove, wiping sweat off of his furry, blue forehead.  
  
"My apologies, class. I was distracted by a matter of utmost interest," he said.  
  
The class looked at him blankly.  
  
"What are we making today?" asked Alexander, one of those guys who had no idea what to take, so he closed his eyes and pointed.  
  
"I have this insatiable craving for Italian." Bobby (who had taken the class because of Rogue) looked at Isabella. "Mr. Drake has the impression that Miss Sulinski can cook Italian food."  
  
"I AM Italian."  
  
"Are you? Intriguing."  
  
"But I can't cook spaghetti."  
  
"Why ever not?"  
  
"It's a secret family recipe, so I can't."  
  
"Oh? How fascinating!"  
  
Isabella looked at him, and he grinned sheepishly.  
  
"All right, I'll make it, but I'm gonna mix in the secret because if I tell you, I'd have to kill you, and it's so messy."  
  
Everyone stared at her and she stared back for a few minutes, and then grinned.  
  
"Don't do that Isabella, we thought you were serious," said Jubi.  
  
"Oh, I am, I just thought y'all needed to relax about it," said Isabella, fumbling through the fridge, mixing the "secret" in with the beef, in the fridge where no one could see.  
  
She put the beef on the counter, then the onions, and garlic and oregano, all in separate little bowls, and then she got out a tall pot. She put the onions in first; let them simmer for a few minutes, then the meat, then the tomato sauce, and then the spices. She left it for most of the class, and then she made angel hair pasta, when it was done, she gave everyone spaghetti, and they ate.  
  
"Normally, it takes all day to make, but because of the limited amount of time, it won't be as good as it could be."  
  
"All day? What do you do when it's cooking?" asked Kitty.  
  
"Anything you want, you don't have to stand by it all day."  
  
"Do you have to make it with the 'secret' part of it?" asked Jubilee.  
  
"Nope, that's just my family."  
  
"Next class maybe we can all try to guess what Miss Sulinski's secret is," said Dr. McCoy.  
  
The bell rang.  
  
"And no taking it to the lab, Dr. McCoy," Isabella warned. "I'll know if you do."  
  
They all went up to their dorms, got dressed for gym, and then went outside. Logan looked at all of them.  
  
"We're playing football today!" he said.  
  
"Yes!" said Isabella.  
  
He smiled.  
  
"I'm glad someone likes my class, you aren't this excited in Trig."  
  
She grinned.  
  
"She just likes football," said Bobby.  
  
"I'm gonna count you off. One's on one team, two's on the other."  
  
There was a total of twenty students in the class, ten on each team. The "One" team consisted of Bobby, Rogue, Evan and Peter among others and the "Two" team consisted of Jubilee, Kitty, Isabella and Remy, among others.  
  
"TWO HAND TOUCH! NO tackle!" said Logan.  
  
"Aww man!" said the entire class (except Jubilee, Kitty, and Rogue).  
  
He laughed.  
  
"I vas hoping--" said Peter. (He's from Russia)  
  
"We ALL know what you hoping," said Isabella.  
  
He came up behind her, she screamed as he lifted her over his shoulder, ran around for a minute and came back, and put her down. Then they played football. The twos kicked off to the ones. Peter caught it, and kneeled, ending the play. Bobby was the quarterback.  
  
"Can I just toss it to you?" asked Rogue.  
  
"Sure."  
  
She sideways- tossed it to Bobby, and everyone ran in different directions. Bobby threw the ball to Peter, and Isabella caught up to him, and two- hand- touched him with her entire body, to the ground. She stood, and helped him up. Logan came over, a cigar in his mouth.  
  
"I thought I said two hand touch," he said.  
  
"I did, but I misjudged my strength, I slipped, and the velocity I was traveling at, plus the force of gravity-"  
  
"Stop trying to explain it, Isabella, and fix it," said Logan.  
  
She gave him the sad puppy dog face.  
  
"I'm sorry, Professor Logan."  
  
"Well-" he faltered. "Just, try not to let it happen again. Colossus can take it, some of the others can't*  
  
"Okay, Professor Logan."  
  
Bobby laughed, and Isabella pretended to scratch the back of her head with her middle finger. Kitty and Jubi laughed, and Peter and Isabella rejoined the rest. TWO TOUCHDOWNS (each) LATER: it was almost time for class to end. Jack (one of the slightly younger kids) threw the ball to Isabella and she ran toward the end zone, the guys ran after her, and toward Jubilee and Kitty, who screamed and covered their heads. Once Isabella had reached the end zone, she sat down and laughed at Kitty and Jubilee's reaction. The bell rang and they went inside getting showers and changing for dinner. Jubilee, Rogue, Bobby, Isabella, Kitty, Remy, Evan and Peter were all talking about Isabella's performance in gym.  
  
"Too bad we don't have a drama class," said Kitty.  
  
"No it's not, then they'd know."  
  
They all laughed. Isabella looked around the table, and caught Scott staring at her, and then he quickly looked away. Isabella got back into their conversation.  
  
"Hey, check and see if Scott's looking this way, or if I'm just paranoid," Isabella whispered to Rogue.  
  
Rogue watched him out of the corner of her eye, and after a few minutes she came to a conclusion.  
  
"He's staring at you hard, babe," she said  
  
"Thanks, Suga, but why?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Me neither, we'll talk about it tonight."  
  
"So, Bella, what's your secret?" asked Bobby.  
  
She leaned and so did they.  
  
"It's none of your damn business."  
  
They laughed, even though they were disappointed.  
  
"C'mon, don't do that," said Kitty.  
  
Isabella grinned mischievously. Bobby threw a bread crumb at her  
  
"Don't start with me, boy."  
  
"I'm not a boy, I'm a man."  
  
Isabella burst out laughing, she laughed so hard she fell out of her seat.  
  
"Eep!" she squeaked.  
  
Everyone laughed even Scott cracked a smile. Isabella stood up and took a bow, then sat back down. After dinner Scott went up to Isabella.  
  
"Hey, Isabella, let's take a walk." She shrugged and they walked out into the gardens. "I know you caught me staring at you at dinner, I'm sorry."  
  
"It's all good. But, why?"  
  
"Professor Xavier was comparing you and Jean, I was just trying to see it."  
  
"Oh," Isabella turned to leave.  
  
"Wait! You two are very different. She said for the two weeks you were here that she got her strength from you. It's just-he helped me out knowing that there's someone who knows Jean as well, if not better, as me."  
  
She turned to look at him.  
  
"Scott, I've been compared with my sister since I was born. I don't need to hear it again. She was smarter, prettier, cleaner, sweeter-should I go on?"  
  
"Isabella, those were NONE of the comparisons. She read to learn about the world, you read to escape it. You both hate math, you both get stuck on the same questions. She was hesitant about her powers, but you're not. She liked opera, ballet, the Ice Capades. You, God! You! You like football, action adventure movies, movies that won't make you cry. She liked art, you make it. You both love nature, plants and animals."  
  
She smiled.  
  
"Sounds right."  
  
"She had a garden, wanna see it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
He led her to a small fence, which had an overgrown garden in it.  
  
"Well, it's yours now, so, here."  
  
Isabella looked at him.  
  
"No, it's Jean's, it will always be Jean's."  
  
He smiled.  
  
"When you first came here, I knew there was something about you that seemed familiar, then I met you, and I knew it was my imagination."  
  
Isabella laughed and looked around the garden.  
  
"Jean would weep at this sight." Scott laughed. "What?"  
  
"Weep?"  
  
"Yeah, so?"  
  
"Been hanging around the new doctor a little?"  
  
"No, not really. Oh, and DO NOT let him take my spaghetti to his lab, okay?"  
  
"All right."  
  
Isabella entered the garden and began pulling weeds, Scott helping her. After an hour, they were done. Scott stood up.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Wait here."  
  
"Okay."  
  
He ran off, then came back a few minutes later, with a bag.  
  
"These are for you," he said, handing them to her.  
  
She opened the bag, and pulled out gardening tools.  
  
"Were these-"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Yep, those were Jean's gardening tools."  
  
Isabella used them to straighten up the garden, then they went inside. At the door, Isabella looked at Scott, and hugged him.  
  
"Thank you, Scott."  
  
He smiled.  
  
"You're welcome." 


	5. Lost and Found

The Uncanny X-Men Lost and Found  
  
Right before Christmas, Professor Xavier gathered all the students fifteen and up in a meeting. Jubilee, Evan, Kitty, Peter, Bobby, Rogue, Isabella and Remy entered his office, and they sat down.  
  
"Do any of you know why you've been called here?" he asked them.  
  
"To tell everyone our secrets, or to read our files out loud?" suggested Isabella.  
  
"No, I thought you all might want to take a field trip, to get your minds off things."  
  
"Awesome! Where to?" asked Jubilee.  
  
"The Rocky Mountains, you all can go hiking up the mountain, if you wish."  
  
"I want to go!"  
  
"Like, me two!" said Kitty  
  
"Me three!" said Rogue.  
  
"Me four!" said Isabella.  
  
"I'd like to go," said Bobby.  
  
"That sounds awesome!" said Evan.  
  
"I'd like to go, also," said Peter.  
  
"It's settled then, you'll leave tomorrow morning," said Professor Xavier.  
  
They left his office and went to pack warm clothes. They next morning they climbed onto the jet, and flew to a private airfield that was near where they would begin climbing. Storm, Logan and Scott went with them. They all had backpacks with blankets, tents, flashlights, food, batteries, matches and flares, just in case. They began hiking the morning after they left school.  
  
"All right, we'll meet at a cabin, about fifty miles from here," said Scott. "Just watch! Try not to get separated, or lost. If you do, light a fire, and a flare, and we'll find you. If you are with Logan, Storm or me, we'll get you to the cabin."  
  
"Okay, Scott, but I have the strangest feeling that we'll be all right," said Isabella.  
  
He smiled.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"It's okay, man, she's just tryin' to get to you," said Evan.  
  
"Spyke, be nice, she might hurt you," said Storm.  
  
"You'll protect me, right, Auntie O?"  
  
"I do not know."  
  
Isabella smiled sweetly. They all laughed at her, and began to walk up the mountain. About an hour later, something moved ahead of them. Scott motioned for them to stop, and Isabella walked up with him. The carefully walked toward the sound, and walked around the corner, it was a deer. Isabella smiled, and walked back to the rest of them.  
  
"Come on, it's just a deer," she said.  
  
They walked for another ten hours, taking a break every three hours. Finally, they reached the cabin, without any injuries, loss, or separation.  
  
"Well, Scott," said Isabella, taking off her jacket, and putting her backpack on the floor, near the wall. "No one died, and everyone's here, I think your 'Mother Speech' did good."  
  
"My 'Mother Speech'? Is that what you call it?" he asked.  
  
He ran at her, and began to tickle her. She screamed.  
  
"Stop! Stop! Someone help me!" she screamed through laughter.  
  
"Nope." "Sorry." "Can't." were the replies to her pleas. Finally, he stopped, and they were able to eat dinner.  
  
"Thanks, for the help, I didn't get, y'all," said Isabella, sipping her soup.  
  
"You're welcome," said Jubilee.  
  
"Y'all realize dat dere a' on'y five beds," said Remy, looking around.  
  
Evan and Remy grinned, and the girls rolled their eyes.  
  
"The girls can have the beds, we'll sleep on the floor," said Scott. Isabella looked at him, shocked. "What?"  
  
"You're such a gentleman, there aren't many of y'all left. That's what surprised me so much, Suga, is that I finally got to meet one."  
  
He laughed, shaking his head. After dinner, they talked until ten, when they all went to bed. The next morning when they woke up, Scott all ready had everything packed up, and lined up by the door. They all got dressed, put out the fire in the fireplace, and headed out.  
  
"We'll reach the highest point we're going about lunch time, then we'll head back, and we'll come back here," said Scott.  
  
Up the mountain they went, until they reached a large patch of evergreens, off the path, with one huge oak tree above them. They sat between the trees, made a fire, and had lunch. After lunch, they sat and talked for a while.  
  
"Hey, Isabella, can you, like, get me a water out of the cooler?" asked Kitty.  
  
Isabella nodded and reached in to get it, and pulled it out.  
  
"Now how the hell did this happen?" she asked herself.  
  
"What?" asked Storm.  
  
"The water's warm. How, in the middle of winter, at the top of a mountain, did water get warm?"  
  
"Toss it up to me, I've got ice," said Logan, under the large oak tree.  
  
Isabella threw the bottled water to him, and he his the tree, catching a chunk of ice. He did it again, and there was a horrible scream, that shook the earth. An avalanche began and Isabella looked up at the top of the tree, there was a little girl. She flew up to the top of the tree, and grabbed the little girl, covering her mouth. She flew down to the group, and Bobby froze the incoming snow in place. Isabella noticed the little girl was holding a picnic basket, but didn't say anything about it. They hiked back down the mountain, Isabella wrapping the little girl in her jacket.  
  
"Isabella, you'll get sick, take mine," offered Scott.  
  
"I'll be fine, I'm just afraid for this little girl."  
  
At dusk, they were almost to the cabin, and they hurried as fast as they could, because the mountains in the dark, was not someplace anyone wanted to be. About fifteen minutes later, they saw the cabin. They were all relieved, and they slowed down. Isabella heard something to the left of Kitty.  
  
"What's that?" asked Evan.  
  
"Kitty, don't move," warned Isabella.  
  
"Cover your eyes," said Jubilee.  
  
Everyone did, and she shot sparks at the noise, scaring away three hungry wolves. They got inside and Isabella immediately found something for the little girl to wear, and got her something to eat.  
  
"What's your name?" Isabella asked her. The little girl looked at her, not saying a word. "Do you talk?" She still didn't reply. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Suga, I promise. Have you been out there a long time?" The little girl nodded. "More days than you can count?" Again, the girl nodded. "How high can you count?" She pointed to the paper in Scott's hand. "Scott, can you get me paper and a pen or pencil."  
  
"Sure."  
  
He ran and got a pen, and gave them to Isabella who put the paper on the floor and handed her the pen. She made lines on the paper, for a minute, counting in her head. Isabella looked at her. The girl's dark brown hair had been frozen, no shoes, and a thin dress, when she was done, the girl looked up at Isabella, her brown eyes thawing out with her hair. Isabella smiled at her, and took the paper, counting the marks.  
  
"Oh my God," she said, standing up, and walking away, in tears.  
  
"What is wrong?" asked Remy.  
  
"She can count to twenty."  
  
"So?" asked Logan.  
  
"She's been out there for more days than she could count. What kind of person could do that to a small child?"  
  
Isabella looked at the girl, who was confused. The girl yawned. Isabella took her and put her in the bed, and the girl fell asleep quickly.  
  
"Maybe they lost her," suggested Storm.  
  
"Not at the top of a mountain, and there's no way in hell she got to the top of that hill by herself."  
  
"She does have a point, I had a tough time getting up there, myself," said Logan.  
  
The girl stirred, and began to cry. Isabella ran over and pulled her into her lap, and hugged her. The girl stopped crying, and went back to sleep. Isabella tucked her back in and went back to the others.  
  
"She can come back with us, can't she, Scott?"  
  
Everyone looked at Scott.  
  
"I-er-" he faltered. "Sure, Professor Xavier can find out her name, and such."  
  
Isabella smiled at him, and finished her dinner. Isabella pulled out a sleeping bag, but the little girl cried again. Isabella sat on the bed, and the little girl looked at Isabella, and hugged her.  
  
"C'mon, Suga, lemme go. I gotta go to bed, too." The little girl wouldn't let go. "You want me to sleep up here with you?" The girl nodded. "Okay."  
  
Isabella climbed in bed with her, and they fell asleep. Jubilee, who always had a camera ready, snapped a quick picture of the girl cuddled up to Isabella. The next morning, Isabella carried the girl down the mountain, all day.  
  
"Doesn't she get heavy?" asked Rogue.  
  
"You forget, I can life a grown man over my head and throw him."  
  
"Oh yea."  
  
"'Oh yea,'" mimicked Isabella.  
  
The others laughed, and Rogue threw a snowball at Isabella, who hid behind Logan, and the snowball hit him. He looked at Rogue and threw a snowball back at her, and hit Bobby. Bobby threw a snowball at Scott, who hit Kitty, who hit Isabella, who got her back, and it became a full- fledged snowball war. Isabella taught the little girl to make and throw a snowball, and the girl hit Logan with the snowball. He looked at her, picked her up, and twirled her above his head, like a father would his daughter. Isabella smiled and hit Peter with a snowball. Eventually, Scott became in control of the situation, and the war came to a peaceful end with few casualties. When they reached the base of the mountain, they went directly to the jet.  
  
"Maybe we should get a few hotel rooms," said Storm.  
  
"I can fly a jet! My friend taught me, I can! I always wanted to fly!" Isabella stopped and thought about it, then laughed. "I guess I worked out well, huh?"  
  
Scott laughed.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So, can I fly the jet?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Please?" begged Isabella.  
  
"Stop groveling."  
  
"So?"  
  
"All right."  
  
"Yes!"  
  
Isabella ran into the jet, put the girl in a seat, and buckled her up, then ran to the pilot's seat, and sat down, the others following her.  
  
"I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?" asked Scott.  
  
"If you live that long," said Logan.  
  
Everyone buckled up, and Scott sat next to Isabella.  
  
"You know what to do?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
Isabella closed the hatch, turned on the engines, and lifted off, not as smooth as she'd planned.  
  
"Isabella-"  
  
"Sorry."  
  
She turned the jet toward the general direction of the school (with Scott's help), and flew the jet back to the school. Three hours later, they were approaching the school.  
  
"All right Isabella, should I take over?"  
  
"Nope, I got it. I always thought landing was easier than take off."  
  
She pushed the button to open the basketball court, hovering over it, and put down the landing gear. Then, she lowered the jet down under the courts, and they landed, in one piece. She shut off the engines, and opened the hatch.  
  
"I'm alive!" shouted Bobby, happily.  
  
"Hey! At least I can land!"  
  
"That was unnecessary," said Rogue.  
  
They laughed. Isabella unbuckled the girl, and carried her inside, where Professor Xavier was waiting.  
  
"I was hoping you'd find her. Hello, Sophie."  
  
The little girl looked at him, and waved.  
  
"Is that her name? She doesn't talk," said Isabella.  
  
"Yes, she was deserted there. I tried to communicate with you, and tell you, but I could not reach you, the comm.-links were down because of the inclement weather. I discovered her in your location the first day you were to reach the cabin."  
  
"Oh, well, we found her," said Kitty.  
  
"Is she a mutant too?" asked Isabella.  
  
"Yes, Isabella, that is correct. Her scream causes the earth to quake, as I imagine you all found out."  
  
"Yes, Logan scared her."  
  
"I didn't mean to," he grumbled.  
  
SEVEN MONTHS LATER  
  
Summer. No one ever went home. Logan, Scott, Dr. McCoy, Remy, Evan, Peter, Bobby and Kurt all began building a pool, so no one would suffer too much during the summer. Rogue, Kitty, Jubilee and Isabella sat on lawn chairs in their bikinis, drinking iced tea, watching the guys.  
  
"You four COULD help," said Logan.  
  
"What was that you said to me earlier this year, Logan. Wasn't it that men work for a living and women have the children? Well, y'all are workin' and we cannot yet fulfill our purpose," said Isabella, grinning.  
  
Kurt popped elsewhere. The four girls laughed.  
  
"I believe she. ah. 'got' you, Logan," said Dr. McCoy.  
  
Scott, Bobby, Remy, Peter and Evan laughed.  
  
"Thanks a lot, Hank," said Logan.  
  
Isabella rested her elbow on the arm of the chair, and wiggled her fingers, waving to them. Bobby threw a chunk of ice at her, and it landed on her stomach. She broke it into four pieces, and put them in each other the girls' glasses (she put the part that had touched her in her own glass, so no germs would spread or no one would be too grossed out), and filled the glasses with tea. Bobby glared at Isabella and Remy shook his head.  
  
"Man, you can't win against dat one," he said.  
  
"I know," said Bobby.  
  
"Did you ever have problems such as those with Dr. Grey?" Peter asked Scott.  
  
"Sometimes, but Jean was more soft- spoken, Isabella always speaks her mind," said Scott.  
  
They laughed, as Kurt popped back out with water for all of them.  
  
"I drink to dat," said Remy.  
  
Storm came out dragging a lawn chair behind her, and pulled it up to Isabella's right, and Isabella poured her a glass of tea. Storm had on a silver bikini, Isabella had a black one, Kitty had a light blue one, Jubilee had a yellow one, and Rogue had a red one. Storm smiled at Kurt, who then went back to work, shyly.  
  
"I think you two should date," said Kitty.  
  
"I can't discuss that with you, I'm your teacher," said Storm, lying back, her sunglasses on.  
  
"And yet, you're sitting out here with us in a bikini," said Isabella, also lying back.  
  
All five of them were lying down, looking up. A week later, the pool was finished, and now the girls were lounging by the pool, instead of on the grounds. Evan brought out a stereo, and turned the music up.  
  
"Come on, Isabella, please will you dance with me?" asked Peter.  
  
"No, sorry, I don't dance, contrary to popular belief," said Isabella.  
  
Peter picked her up off her chair, and lifted her above his head, and was about to throw her in to the pool, when something streaked across the sky. They all looked up, taking off their sunglasses to look. It was a streak of fire, like Apollo's chariot, with Paetheon at the reins. Peter put Isabella down, and she put of a pair of shorts and flew upward.  
  
"Isabella! Take me with you!" called Scott.  
  
"No, I can't protect myself if I'm carrying anyone."  
  
She flew up to the streak, where the clouds had seemingly been burned away.  
  
"Someone! Help me!" she heard someone scream.  
  
She then saw a woman falling from the sky. She dove and caught the woman. She saw her face.  
  
"Oh God, Jean?"  
  
The woman opened her eyes, which were white lights, no life in them at all.  
  
"Jean Grey doesn't live here any more," she said in an unearthly voice.  
  
She punched Isabella, sending her back several hundred feet. She landed on the ground, tearing up the lawn, leaving about ten yards long and four feet deep hole where Isabella had dragged on the ground.  
  
"Scott, get Professor X., Storm, get the kids inside," directed Isabella, then muttered, "My worst dream had arrived." Within a matter of minutes, the kids were inside, and the X-men were on the lawn facing the woman. The fire- bird woman hovered over them. Scott choked. "Remember what I told you. It's not Jean."  
  
"How come she gets to be in charge?" Logan asked Rogue.  
  
"Because I know the enemy," said Isabella.  
  
"Jean Grey doesn't live here anymore!" the woman repeated.  
  
"I know!"  
  
Isabella attacked her.  
  
"I am the Phoenix, and I will destroy you all!"  
  
She punched Isabella in to the wall of the school. She slid down the wall, a cut on her back, but no head injury. She stood, and saw the Phoenix looked a bit confused, looking around. Professor Xavier was trying to get into her head. Isabella looked to the sky.  
  
"HELP ME! I CALL TO THOSE WHO CAN HELP US AND DESTROY THE PHOENIX!"  
  
A light came from the sky, and onto Isabella, she jumped form the shock, the entire school watching. The light subsided, and Isabella's eyes were white lights like the Phoenix's.  
  
"Isab-" began Logan.  
  
"I am not Isabella, I am Lelandra, from the planet, Shi'ar. Isabella has allowed me to inhabit her body to battle the Phoenix. Do not worry, you will have her back in one piece." She looked up into the window Professor Xavier was at. "Hello again, Charles."  
  
She flew up, and went toward the Phoenix, who recognized her, and fled. Lelandra chased her, and grabbed her ankle, putting a tracking device on her. They fought back and forth, like two high school girls. Kicking, punching, scratching, and flying limbs everywhere, the Phoenix, in a panic, punched Lelandra as hard as she could, sending her back a hundred feet, and fled. Lelandra flew back to Xavier's, and pulled out of Isabella's body. She was still mid- air and over the pool. As soon as Lelandra was out, Isabella fell out of the sky, and into the pool. After what seemed like forever, when she didn't come back up, Scott dove in and pulled her out. He laid her on the side of the pool, putting his ear to her mouth, she wasn't breathing, and he began mouth- to-mouth resuscitation. She gasped for air, coughing up water.  
  
"Isabella? Are you all right?" asked Scott.  
  
"Maybe the pool wasn't the best place to be flying over just then," she managed.  
  
Everyone laughed.  
  
"Even when you almost drown, you always have something to say," said Evan.  
  
Isabella smiled.  
  
"You surprised? I'm not too big on going in water, save showers."  
  
"I'd imagine you wouldn't," said Professor Xavier, approaching them.  
  
He smiled at Isabella, and she smiled back.  
  
"Mr. LeBeau, can you carry Miss Sulinski down to the infirmary, so I can ensure that she will be well," said Dr. McCoy.  
  
Remy put one of his arms under her knees and the other behind her back, and lifted her off the ground.  
  
"I can walk, Suga," said Isabella.  
  
"Non, chere, I ain't willin' t' take dat chance," said Remy, walking into the school.  
  
Isabella sighed. They entered the infirmary, and Remy set Isabella on one of the tables. Dr. McCoy put his stethoscope to her chest, and telling her to breathe in, breathe out, et cetera. Then, he put it away.  
  
"'And so we beat on, like boats against the current..' And so do you," said Dr. McCoy.  
  
"F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby," said Isabella.  
  
"Very good."  
  
"It's a hard quote to forget."  
  
"That it is. Literature is a fantastic element of art."  
  
"I love books, and poetry."  
  
Isabella smiled, and then coughed.  
  
"My, my, my. Upper respiratory problems are eminent. You must stay in bed until this is all cleared up, or it could get worse, there is still water in your lungs, there is a chance you could drown."  
  
Isabella sighed, and then she smiled sweetly.  
  
"Dr. McCoy, how could I POSSIBLY drown? The only time I'm in water is in the shower! I have a history with water, and well. I don't like it much," said Isabella, like it was no big thing.  
  
"Excellent attempt, Miss Sulinski, very nice attempt."  
  
Isabella sighed, and Remy laughed.  
  
"Damn."  
  
"Language, please," said Scott, walking in.  
  
She stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
"Can I at least walk up to my room?"  
  
"Absolutely. not."  
  
Isabella rolled her eyes at Scott, as Remy picked her up off the table, and walked out of the room.  
  
"C'mon, Suga, let me walk," she whispered in his ear.  
  
"Da doc says no, so Remy says no."  
  
Isabella sighed, as Remy climbed the stairs to the dorms.  
  
"Isabella, are you all right?" everyone asked as they passed.  
  
"Don' you worry, Suga, Ah'll be fine!" she'd say jovially.  
  
Kitty opened their bedroom door, and Remy put Isabella on her bed and covered her up.  
  
"You okay?" asked Remy.  
  
"Now, what th' hell am ah gonna do in hee- ah bah myself?"  
  
"You'll think of something," said Scott.  
  
She glared at him.  
  
"I'm sorry, chicka," said Kitty, hugging her.  
  
"It's all right, dahlin'."  
  
Sophie ran in, and stood by Isabella's bed. No one had been able to get her to speak, so they restricted talking to her in only yes or no questions. Isabella had seemingly adopted her, and every other kid there, but Sophie was more like Isabella's daughter than any of the others. Logan followed behind Sophie, with the mail. Sophie liked Logan, and sometimes, when she had a nightmare, she'd see if Logan was up, and she'd find him, usually in the kitchen, and sit in his lap, until she fell asleep again. Sophie crawled up in Isabella's lap, and put her head on Isabella's chest. Jubilee grabbed her camera and snapped a picture. Logan tossed a letter onto Isabella's desk. Sophie looked up at Isabella, her dark brown hair pulled back, and tears in her soft brown eyes. Samantha, an eight year old, ran in to the room.  
  
"Jackson says you're going to die!" she said.  
  
Jackson was one of the younger boys at the age of seven.  
  
"I'm not gonna die," said Isabella, rolling her eyes.  
  
"That's what he told me and Sophie."  
  
Isabella looked at Sophie.  
  
"Did Jack tell you that?" Sophie nodded. "Well, don' you listen to him, Suga, he doesn't know what he's talkin' about."  
  
Sophie smiled, and crawled around behind Isabella, and began to play with her hair. Isabella picked up the letter and saw the address. It was John's handwriting. She quickly opened the letter, and read it.  
  
'Hello my dearest love, (that sounds kinda gay, and like Mystique's helping me, doesn't it?) I miss you more that Pluto misses heat. (Did Pluto ever HAVE heat?) How goes everything at Xavier's? Tell everyone I said 'hey!' I wish I could tell you where we were, but that's against the whole norm- lovers vs. norm-haters code, you know. I miss your smile, your kiss, your laugh, and how you throw your whole body back when you laugh. I miss your grace (or lack thereof), your scent, the smell of your hair, the sparkle in your eye. There isn't enough paper in the world to write down everything I miss about you. Every night, I look up at the sky, and name each star after one thing about you that I love, and I always run out of stars (I think it makes Magneto and Mystique sick) And after I run out of stars, I dream about an aspect I didn't name. Winter is depressing without you, spring is desolate and summer is excruciating without your smile. I have to go now, but always remember my love for you; I love you more than anyone loves anything.  
  
John  
  
P.s. Don't forget to send a reply to the bookstore in NYC. And look in the envelope for another one.'  
  
Isabella looked into the envelope, found the other envelope, and opened it, finding a note attached to a silver banded diamond ring.  
  
'I asked you once, now I ask you again. Will you marry me?'  
  
A/N: SHOULD SHE ACCEPT? YOU TELL ME!!!!!!! 


End file.
